


This muddied lot

by downrightpiano



Series: In this garden there’s no feeling [2]
Category: Avengers Academy (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Steve Rogers-centric, Timefog, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:53:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24409123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/downrightpiano/pseuds/downrightpiano
Summary: Tony stood facing into the Timefog, hot rod red boots toeing the wispy purple fog. Something resembling an amalgamation of panic and Tony’s name tore itself from Steve’s throat. There was no indication that Tony heard him, and Steve knew that no matter how quickly he moved, he would be unable to stop the other man from going in.Unsettled by Tony’s odd behavior, Steve follows him into the Timefog. There, he discovers the reason for Tony’s strangeness over the past week. It’s now up to Steve to save Tony from the evil in the fog and get them both out.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: In this garden there’s no feeling [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1615753
Comments: 4
Kudos: 40





	This muddied lot

**Author's Note:**

> This is the actual ending to [In this garden there’s no feeling](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22454470).

It was late, and Steve should really be back in his dorm and sleeping, but he had too much energy and an intense need to burn it off. That was why he found himself at the Robo Dojo fighting robots at two in the morning. If he thought too much about it, Steve would feel guilty about the rampant waste of breaking so many robots. At the same time, he knew how flippant Tony was about the damage and would probably see it as a challenge to make more resilient robots. He was hoping Tony had learned his lesson after the whole Ultron debacle, but Tony’s enthusiasm can run away with him sometimes. More like most of the time. That was probably why Tony and Jan were such good friends.

Properly distracted, Steve barely managed to deflect a hit with his shield. The hit skittered off the vibranium and clipped his shoulder. He gritted his teeth and leapt back a safe distance before pivoting into a throw. The shield sheared through the robot’s neck and sliced through another robot’s chest before bouncing off the force field and back into Steve’s hand.

He watched the cleaning bots clear the area. A hologram signaled the end of the session and queried if he would like to start a new one. Steve chose to end session and left the Dojo.

Steve took in a breath of night air. The coolness with that particular smell of nighttime was calming, but he still felt restless. He considered getting one last hit in at the Blasting Range before turning in for the night, but paused. A strange hush seemed to fall over the campus. He couldn’t detect anything out of the ordinary, except that the air seemed to have stilled.

He stood there, in front of the Dojo, quiet and motionless. He still couldn’t pick up anything peculiar with his senses. But suddenly, a flash of colour in the corner of his eye. Steve turned his head and looked. And did a double-take.

On the far edge of campus, a figure walked at a sedate pace towards the undeveloped side of the school. A figure that was wearing gleaming red jet boots. With a gauntlet. Tony was walking away from campus at two in the morning.

In any other circumstance, Steve would let it go, because it was Tony and Tony Stark did what Tony Stark wanted. But he took a closer look and saw what probably passed as sleepwear for the other man. No one else was around, and no one was accompanying Tony.

It took Steve less than a second to make his decision.

He set off down the street after Tony. At first, it was a brisk walk. Soon, almost without Steve realizing, the brisk walk became a steady jog. A strange sense of urgency weighed down his gut like thick mud. The hair on his arms stood on end.

Tony turned a corner and disappeared from view. Steve’s heart irrationally lurched and he sprinted toward the edge of campus. He turned the same corner Tony did and slowed to a stop.

Tony stood facing into the Timefog, hot rod red boots toeing the wispy purple fog. Something resembling an amalgamation of panic and Tony’s name tore itself from Steve’s throat. There was no indication that Tony heard him, and Steve knew that no matter how quickly he moved, he would not get there in time to stop him.

With no warning, Tony stepped into the Timefog. The fog swirled, heavy and thick where he disturbed it, before it settled back into a hushed calm. Steve shouted, wordless, as he sprinted forward. He stopped at the edge of the fog, in the same place Tony had stood. If Steve wanted to, he’d be able to see the imprints of Tony’s boots in the grass.

“Tony!” It was futile. Steve knew that sound simply did not penetrate the Timefog. No sound came out, and no sound went in. Visual was only marginally better. Even with his senses enhanced, Steve could only see a few feet into the fog.

He assessed the situation.

Having made his decision, Steve sent off a message on his phone before tucking it back into a pocket. He took a breath and stepped forward.

Something lodged itself into the tread of his boot. It was so incongruent with the surrounding grassy field that it made Steve pause. He looked at the patch of grass he was standing on and stared. What looked like pale yellow crumbs stood out from the green grass. Looking closer, Steve realized they were small pieces of crumbled cheese. He lifted his foot and almost laughed at the sheer strangeness. A chunk of cheese the size of a quarter was wedged into the groove. Steve dug it out and shook his head. Leave it to Tony to leave a cheese trail.

He placed the chunk of cheese on the grass behind him and squared his shoulders. Tony had left a trail. That meant Tony wanted to be found, or intended to retrace his steps. A surge of affection rose up within him. Steve placed one foot into the fog. Tony wanted to be found, and Steve was going to find him, Timefog be damned.

He stepped into the Timefog and it swarmed around him, wrapping him in a blanketing quiet. Steve knew without looking behind him that he would not see the campus. The fog had the strange ability to conceal things even when it seemed to go against the laws of physics. All it took was one step in the wrong or right direction to end up in a different place.

On the ground, amongst the swirling wisps of fog was a thin trail of cheese crumbs. The crumbs were spaced several feet apart. Steve knelt down to inspect them. He might not be a cheese connoisseur, but even he could tell it was a sharp, crumbly cheese. Steve looked in the direction of the cheese trail. Six feet in and the cheese crumbs started to look hazy. Several feet more and there was only swirling fog.

Steve followed the trail, senses on high alert for anything and everything. It didn’t hurt to be too careful. The hush that was characteristic of natural fog took on a more insidious character in the Timefog. It wrapped around Steve, hid things from his eyes and ears. But no matter how difficult it was, he was determined to find Tony.

A whisper of something threaded through the fingers of fog, almost dampened to silence but not completely. It slithered over the rocky ground, flitted out of reach of Steve’s combat boots, and twisted in the air. The sound dissipated as if it was never there. It was so quiet, Steve would’ve missed it if he wasn’t listening. A thin creak.

He unhooked the shield from its harness and hefted it in his hand. He cast his eyes about and strained his ears to hear more. Another creak, fainter but longer than the last. Steve advanced silently, grip tight on the leather of his shield straps. The cheese trail in front of him became uneven, spotty. The cheese seemed to be running out, and Steve hoped that Tony had enough left to complete the trail, wherever he was going. He refused to imagine Tony hurt and compromised, stumbling about in the fog with no way out. Tony was fine. Tony was smart and clever, and knew how to get himself out of difficult situations if he put his mind to it.

The trail leaned left in an unsteady curve and Steve followed it cautiously. He suddenly wished he was wearing his stealth suit instead of his usual clothes. Another faint creak filtered through the fog and he tightened his grip on the shield. Ahead, the cheese trail grew more and more sparse until it finally petered out. He crouched by the last cheese crumb and surveyed the ground. The rocky terrain was not optimal for tracking but that did not deter him.

Several paces away, a disturbance in the soil caught his eye. What looked to be the hard edge of a circle was pressed into the ground. He’d seen that exact size and pattern many times at the Academy, usually glowing and streaking through the sky. Suffice it to say, Steve was very familiar with the tread of Tony’s jet boots.

A red and gold lighter lay in the dirt near the boot print, seemingly dropped haphazardly. It was covered in so much dirt it nearly blended in with the ground. Steve picked it up and dusted it off. The fuel chamber was full and it was functional.

He had never seen Tony carry or use a lighter before. Steve pocketed it just in case.

Tony was close. He could feel it. He couldn’t let down his guard now, especially when he was so close. But as he looked out into the fog, the rocky ground gave him no more clues. The boot print and the lighter were the last signs Steve had within his sight.

A groan, louder than the creak he’d heard earlier, split the air. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. It had come from his twelve o’clock, but at a distance. And it was definitely not human. Before he could do anything, a multitude of sounds echoed out from the fog. Groans, cracks, a distant rumbling Steve felt through the soles of his boots. A low grinding noise, so tortuous it almost resembled a wail, resounded. Steve leapt to his feet and held the shield in front of him. Something was happening, and he didn’t know what.

He stood for what felt like hours but was really minutes, senses extended to their maximum. It was quiet again, and that was unnerving. Slowly, as if reawakening, the ground rumbled again. And this time it kept rumbling. Finally, it petered out with a series of rumbles. It sounded very much like laughter. Steve shuddered despite himself. He looked down at Tony’s boot print one more time to bolster himself, and headed toward the source of the noise.

It was almost anticlimactic when he finally saw it. The odd hulking shape in the near distance. Finger-like projections reaching toward the sky in some sort of twisted, gnarled display. It seemed to change shape every time he blinked.

It was a tree. A very large and very old looking tree. Its branches swayed and creaked.

There was no wind.

At first glance the tree seemed barren, but upon closer inspection he could see the beginning of buds emerging from the bark. They were not the bright waxy green of budding leaves, but a dark faded colour, leeching the surrounding light.

The whole situation was so strange and eerie that Steve nearly missed the feeling of something touching his boot.

He ripped his leg away from the root trying to grasp him and brought the edge of his shield down on it when it reached towards him.

It splintered and broke, and something inhuman howled. It reverberated through the air and Steve’s body, and he knew without a doubt it came from the tree.

The branches shook furiously and flexed like claws. A resounding growl came from the trunk and the ground rippled.

Steve adjusted his shield. “I’m looking for someone. Brown hair, rocket boots, gauntlet. Seen him around?”

Roots spiked out of the splintering ground and he dove out of the way. “I’ll take that as a yes.” He leapt over a root ripping itself out of the ground and hacked with his shield when more whipped in front of his face.

The tree roared and Steve sighed. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

He dodged another violent tree root and vaulted over crumbling rocks. A leap over an untangling knot of wood, a roll away from a heavily deposited stone, and a quick dash later, Steve was within arm’s reach of the twisted tree trunk and brought his shield down hard.

The howl that erupted from the tree shook Steve’s bones and jarred his teeth. He ripped the shield out of the trunk and the howl turned into a shriek that threatened to rupture his eardrums.

A viscous liquid oozed out of the broken bark and Steve hoped it was sap. He highly doubted it was sap though, for it was a strange dirty shade of oily dark and stunk of festering rot.

He jammed the shield in again and held on as the ground trembled and bucked. The tree roared and the root nearest to Steve ripped out of the ground and towards him. He retrieved his shield and leapt away just as the root slammed into the space he occupied a moment earlier. He cut down a flailing limb. “That all you got? I’m not exactly impressed here.” He hefted the shield and threw it at the black wound.

Steve dodged branches and roots and was about to grab his shield when he was slapped hard into the ground. He grimaced at the web of roots in his line of sight and made to pull the offending branch off.

A faint glimmer caught his eye. Something was glowing under the carpet of roots. A blue that Steve was very familiar with.

He huffed. “So that’s where you were hiding him. Thanks for showing me.”

With renewed strength, he ripped the offending appendage away and rolled to safety. He retrieved his shield and hacked at the branch. It thrashed and jerked back.

Steve leapt onto the carpet of roots and brought his shield down hard. The entire structure trembled and bucked as if trying to throw him off. But Steve held on, and brought his shield down again and again, until the web he stood on splintered and caved.

He fell into darkness.

The shield broke his fall, but even then the impact was not particularly hard. Steve crouched at the ready in the dark. The space he had fallen into was not large. In fact, the hole he fell through was only a few feet above his head if he stood at full height. He’d be able to pull himself up and out if he were to jump. While it was lacking in height, the space made up for it in width and depth. The darkness stretched a good many feet in all directions. He breathed in air that was stale and dank. The ground under his boots was a mix of damp earth, rock, and old roots. The space was roughly bowl-shaped, deepest at the middle with the ceiling and ground sloping towards each other at the edges.

Steve waited, but the roots underfoot didn’t show any signs of awareness or mobility. Just normal tree roots then. He hoped.

A slithering sound caught his attention. With his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Steve spotted a tendril reaching towards his leg. He huffed and cut it down with the shield. The root seized and curled spastically into itself, before withdrawing into a crevice. Nothing else came at him, so Steve looked towards the only source of light in the cave.

The arc reactor glowed a steady shining blue, even though its owner was barely visible through the mass of roots covering him.

Steve crept closer, shield in hand, and grimaced at the sight in front of him.

Tony almost looked like he was resting against the wall of the cave, face lax and eyes closed. Tree roots wound themselves heavily around his torso, pressing him into the wall of packed soil and pale thin strands of plant material. An arm was flopped to the side, with a thin root wrapped around it. His other limbs were covered in more roots. One root in particular snaked up Tony’s neck and nestled along his jaw, pale feathery filaments reaching toward the cut in his cheek in a mockery of gentleness. The arc reactor shone through a gap, throwing everything into sharp relief.

Even with minimal lighting, Steve could tell Tony looked unwell. That was an understatement. The paleness of Tony’s skin contrasted unpleasantly with the heavy darkness under his eyelids. His face was streaked with dirt, and his breathing was so slight Steve had to watch carefully to make sure he was still alive.

He inched closer and closer, emboldened by the lack of response from the tree. Steve cautiously reached out a hand and tapped Tony’s cheek. “Tony.” He whispered. “Tony, wake up.”

Receiving no response, he tugged at one of the roots holding Tony in place. A faint hiss and it shifted, but stayed in place. Steve gripped it tight and ripped it away from Tony’s chest. A shriek pierced his ears and sticky black fluid sprayed across his arms.

Steve made quick work of the rest, and before long he was able to free Tony from his prison. Any exposed skin that was in contact with the roots was raw and the deeper wounds glistened with a red tinge. He gave Tony’s shoulder a solid shake, but the other man stayed unconscious. He was still breathing though, and seemed otherwise uninjured.

Steve pressed his lips together in a thin line. They had to get out before anything else happened. He looked up at the ceiling where he fell from. The hole was still there, but new growth was visible at the edges. He used the shield to enlarge the hole enough so both of them would be able to get out easily.

Something grabbed onto his ankle. Steve looked down, making to jerk his leg away from impending danger. He breathed in, sharp, and crouched down. “Tony, you’re awake. Are you okay?”

“Fire.” Tony let go of Steve’s leg. “You have to burn it, Steve.” He had to stop to catch his breath. “That’s the only way.”

Steve gripped his hand. “We’ll get to that, but we need to get out of here first.”

Tony wheezed with effort. “Get out now. You weakened it when you separated it from its energy source.” He coughed, wet and laboured. “It won’t attack while it’s recuperating.”

Steve sat him up and got an arm around his shoulders when it was clear Tony couldn’t summon the strength to hold himself up. “I’m not leaving without you, Tony.”

“Glad to hear it.” Tony quirked an exhausted smile at him. “Get us out of here then, Cap.”

Steve looked up at the opening. “Do you think you can hang on to me? Or can you fly us out?”

Tony exhaled and slumped into Steve. “My tech’s not working. Sorry.”

Steve squeezed his shoulder. “Not your fault. I can get us out, but you’ll have to hang on to me, okay?” He draped Tony over his back and made sure his grip around his shoulders was secure before standing.

A weak chuckle sounded by his ear. “Getting a piggyback ride from Captain America himself. Who would’ve thought?”

Steve huffed. “When this is over, you can have as many piggyback rides as you want, Tony. Now hang on.” He gauged the distance, and leapt. Once he had a sure grip on the roots, he quickly pulled them out.

Tony dropped from his shoulders and staggered to the side. “Oh thank God. Open air!” His legs gave and he collapsed to the ground in an ungainly heap with a groan. “I’ve never been happier to see the Timefog.”

Steve tugged him up and guided him a safe distance from the tree. “It’s quiet.” He observed. “What happens now?”

“You have to burn it. That’s the only way to stop it.” Cold sweat beaded on Tony’s forehead, mixing with the dirt and dust. “You can’t kill it, Steve. I don’t think it can be killed.”

Steve glanced at Tony in alarm.” What do you mean, it can’t be killed?”

Tony shuddered. “I got a glimpse when it was using me as fertilizer. It’s all a bit jumbled, but what I got was that it’s not from around here.” He shuddered again and gagged. “You’re running out of time. Set it on fire, now!”

A faint rumble rattled the ground and Steve quickly checked his pockets. He pulled out the lighter and snatched up the driest plant material he could find. In no time at all, he had both a steady fire going on the ground and a makeshift torch in his hand. He turned to place Tony closer to the fire for safety only to find him missing.

Tony had heaved himself away from the fire, a wild look in his eyes and sweat beading his skin.

“Tony, what’s wrong?” Steve set the torch down at the fire and grabbed Tony by the shoulders to bring him back to the fire. “Stay close to the fire. I need to get to the tree.”

A spasm ran through the other man. “Steve, Steve, it’s too hot. I can’t do it. Get it away from me. Steve!” Tony grabbed at him, fingers white with effort and panic.

Steve watched in horror as tendrils of black seeped through the whites of Tony’s eyes and into his skin. Steve gripped the back of his neck. “Sorry, Tony, but I have to do this.”

He picked up the torch and ran for the tree. Steve opened up the lighter and splashed the lighter fluid onto the trunk. He thrust the torch at it and the ground bucked. He kept his balance until a terrible noise rent the air and brought him to his knees.

The tree caught fire quickly and everything cracked and heaved as roots pulled themselves out of the ground. It shrieked and something whipped by Steve so quickly he barely dodged it. He rolled to his feet and lunged away.

Steve ran back to where he left Tony and fell to his knees beside the prone man. “Tony?” He turned him onto his back and Tony threw himself at him.

Tony clawed at his uniform and screamed into his face. “You’re hurting me! Why are you hurting me? Why are you _hurting us_?!” A hand latched onto Steve’s throat with inhuman strength and pressed him down onto the ground. “Make it stop, now!”

Steve choked and tried to loosen Tony’s grip. With a heave of his body, he rolled them closer to the fire and trapped Tony’s body beneath him. He grabbed Tony’s flailing hands and sat on him. “You have to fight it, Tony!”

Tony snarled at him and tried to buck him off. Steve held fast.

A tremendous crack thundered behind them. One of the tree’s branches cracked and snapped, still attached to the trunk by the splintered bark. Black liquid dripped and sizzled from the fierce heat and licking flames.

“Let me go!” The sheer panic in Tony’s voice made Steve feel ill. “Let me go, let me go, let me go, let. _Us. Go_!” Tony threw his head against the hard ground and screamed. His voice climbed in pitch, higher and higher, until it was overlaid with an inhuman, unnatural tone. He thrashed and seized, and Steve was forced to lie on top of him, using his body weight to hold him down.

Tony suddenly gagged and retched, and Steve managed to turn him on his side before he heaved and emptied the contents of his stomach. Black slime pooled and dripped onto the rocky soil. Tony heaved and hacked until nothing else came out.

Steve could do nothing but watch as the black liquid gathered itself and slipped down through the cracks in the ground, out of sight and reach.

Behind them, the inferno had calmed to a steady burning with the occasional snap and crackle of burning timber.

Tony coughed and took a shuddering breath. He squinted up at Steve, eyes bleary but clear of black. “I’m never doing anything with the Timefog ever again.” He shifted gingerly and groaned hoarsely. “I think you can let me up now, Cap. The worst seems to be over.”

Steve helped him up into a sitting position and leaned him against his chest. “I think we should wait until the fire burns itself out before we leave. Just in case.”

Tony’s head lolled limply against his shoulder. “If it makes you feel better. I don’t think I can stand anyway, so you’re going to have to carry me.” He wiped ineffectually at the black stains around his mouth. “I think we’re safe now. From it, at least.”

Steve tucked him under his chin. “Take a break. I’ll keep watch.”

Eventually the fire exhausted itself. What was left was a blackened, burnt out husk with only the largest boughs still attached.

Steve carefully laid Tony down on the ground and stood to stretch his stiff muscles. He kicked dirt over their fire. He shook Tony awake, and coaxed him to hang onto his back, and retrieved his shield.

The Timefog was sedate as he retraced their steps, following the trail Tony left, and he instinctually knew that they wouldn’t encounter any danger along the way.

Natasha and Sam were waiting for him when he emerged from the fog.

Steve knelt to let Tony off his back and helped him sit upright in the grass.

Sam gaped at them. “You guys look like you’ve been through the ringer.” He looked at Tony. “Actually, you look like you just survived the apocalypse.”

Tony let out a wild giggle and nearly fell over.

Natasha studied Tony’s wounds and wan face with a critical eye. “You’re going immediately to the infirmary whether you like it or not, Stark. You look like you’ll fall over even before I taser you.”

Tony huffed weakly. “I hate to say it, but you’re right. I’m pretty sure it’s all gone, but the thing could just be playing tricks on my brain. Again.”

Sam looked at Steve in consternation. “What the hell happened to you guys in there?”

Steve quirked a tired grin at him and set a steady hand on Tony’s shoulder. “We’ll tell you guys all about it. In the infirmary.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, it was an evil tree. The whole thing began because I wanted to write about an evil tree going after Tony. Yeah.


End file.
